Mike: Yes! I thought it was just me. Some people think Revelation is the most complicated and strange book in the bible, but actually I think Genesis is. To me, it seems like every sentence contradicts the last sentence. Maybe I'm not understanding it, but here goes.
Ok, assuming you take it word for word, like my fanatical mother, God created the earth in six days. Then, he created Adam and Eve to be perfect in a perfect paradise. It sounds nice, but it's impossible. Simply put, human nature is by design against perfection. The JWs believe that humans were exactly the same when God created them as they are now. So lets put their theory to the test.
When you're perfect, that means nothing in your life or in the world is going wrong. That means you have no problems at all. And when you have no problems, that means you have no need to improve yourself. You don't have to do anything at all. Now, a clever JW would say that Adam and Eve did plenty before they were banished from the garden of eden, such as farming, naming the animals, and learning from Jehovah's teachings. Well guess what dubs, a perfect person does none of those things!
However, the words are still there. So, assuming God is not as stupid as the watchtower, lets say he was trying to send us a message. And what was that message? Well, lets go to Cain and Abel.
Ok, the bible says that Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve after they left the garden. Again, if you take it word for word, Cain becomes jelous of Abel, he kills him in cold blood, and is caught red handed by God. At this point, it says nothing about any other children of Adam and Eve, they have more later. So, according to this, there were four people living on the planet at this time, minus Abel equals three. And it never mentions how old they were. Cain could have been 15 or 50.
First of all, there are two possibilities, either Cain was an uncivilized brute who killed Abel on a whim, (which would be consistent with the lack of civilization at the time), or it was a premedated act. I think it was premedated, otherwise he could have just thrown a rock at his head in full view of his parents. When God confronts Cain of this sin, he lies and talks back to God. This suggests that Cain is a bit of a sociopath. Then he expresses fear of being killed by the "other people." Now that seems a little strange. The bible never mentioned other people, yet God gives out commandments that he will kill seven people for whoever kills Cain in revenge. So who are all these other people?
Again there are two possibilities. Either Adam and Eve had more children before Abal died, or there were other tribes of humans, suggesting that they were not the first and only people on earth, thereby negating the previous scripture. Then there's the matter of God. Now I'm no theologan, but it seems to me that Cain gets a pretty easy punishment. Think about it. He beats his brother to death with a club, then in the blink of an eye, his wife pops out of nowhere, and they go off into the wilderness to start a new tribe together. Does that sound even remotely fair?
And as for Cain, his actions are rather strange for a man of his background. In sociology, there is a term used called "feral children." This means a person who was raised by animals or was so isolated during their childhood that they have no idea how to behave and are usually mentally challenged. Cain, being one of only four people on earth, would certainly be isolated. Yet his jelousy, anger, cowardice and lying all indicate a civilized man who knows better. From a sociological point of view, he's just any other murderer in society today. Yet how can that be when there were no other people? My answer is that there are several books missing from the bible, and there is more to the story than we know.
In conclusion, I think God's message to us was to start thinking for ourselves. Even if you try to take the bible literally word for word, your brain won't let you! I don't mean to toss the bible out the window. But I think it was written for people who use thier brains, not the idiot JW's who are a complete waste of oxygen. So you don't have to believe what I say.
What do you all think?
Anitar
